The Fringe Wars

5.17

A Bid Farewell

CUF Armada, outside Myr

"We can't leave yet. My wife hasn't arrived."

Corps General Barrett Anders turned to face the owner of AlluMyr, the Collective's largest interplanetary transport company.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Traveres, but you've had a year to coordinate. Unless she arrives within the hour, it's up to her to book a flight to meet up with us in the Alliance sector. You clearly have a transport ship capable of delivering her to our rendezvous coordinates." Anders turned away, only to have his arm grabbed.

"Wait a minute, General," Traveres said. "I've sunk every credit to my name into this trip. The least you can do is wait for Lenda."

Anders grew tired of catering to his wealthiest passengers. Each one seemed to think they deserved special treatment for contributions to the mission. "We are all thankful for your support, Mr. Traveres. However, you are not the only citizen to support our cause, and it's not fair to jeopardize the entire mission—and the lives of everyone on board these ships—by waiting one more hour for your wife. As I said before, if she doesn't make it before we leave the Collective, then it's up to her to make it to the Alliance. Though, if she's not on board now, I wonder how much she really wants to go on this trip."

"Lenda wants to go," he snapped. "But she doesn't want to leave her parents behind. She's been trying to talk them into coming. She said she'll be here within two hours."

Anders clenched his jaw. "We've talked about this. This trip will take years if not decades. The last thing anyone wants on this ship is a passenger who doesn't want to be here. And she has one hour, not two."

He walked away from the businessman and hustled to the bridge. More people tried to stop and talk to him on the way, but he ignored them. They would have plenty of time to talk after they left the Collective.

When he reached the bridge, he locked the door behind him to keep out the civilians. He looked over his bridge crew before settling his gaze on his second-in-command. "Tully, how are we looking?"

The comm tech spun his chair to face Anders. "Commandants Smith and Lyness have reported in from their warships. Each of their complements is ready to jump at your command. However, the CUF armada is blocking our flight path. We still need to bypass them before we jump."

Anders nodded. "We won't know how they'll respond until we move, but you'd better advise our fleet that they have full authority to fire at any CUF ship that fires first."

He took a seat and scanned his comm panel to see the status of the seventeen ships—nearly a third of what had been the CUF armada—that composed the Collective Exploratory Forces: three warships, four frigates, and eleven destroyers, along with several dozen gunships and transports held within the larger ships' bays. Twenty civilian transports were also accompanying the fleet. The number was higher than Anders had ever dreamed. When he'd first proposed colonization to the Founders, he'd never expected nearly the entire organization to volunteer to jump on board.

Through the Founders, he'd gained access to the Collective's wealthiest citizens and their resources. While he had some concerns that they were taking too much from the Collective, he knew that what he was doing was best for its long-term viability.

Confident that the colony fleet was ready, Anders tapped his comm channel and placed a call.

Seda Faulk's face appeared on screen. "Corps General, may I assume things are on track?"

Anders nodded. "Yes. We move in thirty-six minutes and should arrive at the planned coordinates within six days. Will the colonies be ready to begin transferring the supplies by then?"